


Trick or Treat

by gemgirl28



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Celebrations, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Hauntober 2020, Nurse Katara, Pumpkins, Trick or Treating, fall traditions, just so much fluff, supportive zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27303565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemgirl28/pseuds/gemgirl28
Summary: Zuko’s favorite holiday was definitely Halloween. And it was entirely because of the traditions he shared with Katara.Fits with Hauntober Day 1: Pumpkin and Day 31: Celebrate
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	Trick or Treat

**Author's Note:**

> So I realized when I say "I'm new to the ATLA/Zutara fandom" I really should add that I'm new to fandom, period. Like I've always been a nerd, but I never really identified with one fandom until this year. So when I kept seeing these cute fall Zutara fics come through for Hauntober, I had no idea where the prompts were coming from. It wasn't until I saw a tumblr reblog for the week four prompts that I figured it out. I'm still learning to navigate not only this fandom, but fandom in general, and I will never say no to advice. So anyways, you can read this as fitting with Hauntober Day 1 "Pumpkin" or Day 31 "Celebrate", or you can read it for the shameless Halloween Zutara fluff I wrote it as, either is fine with me. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Happy Halloween, Witches!

Zuko’s favorite holiday was definitely Halloween. And it was entirely because of the traditions he shared with Katara.

It all started before they were even dating, her sophomore year of college. Aang wanted to have a pumpkin carving party and watch Halloween movies. Katara was so excited it was all she could talk about for the whole month of October. Unfortunately, at the last minute, everyone but Katara and Zuko had to cancel. Sokka had a last-minute exam to study for, Suki ended up getting picked to present at an out of town conference, and Toph’s parents showed up unannounced demanding she spend time with them. Even Aang got sick and couldn’t host anymore. Zuko couldn’t stand the heartbroken look on Katara’s face, so he picked up pumpkins, got the carving kit from Aang, figured out how to rent _Hocus Pocus_ , and called Katara.

She later told him she had been so moved by his kindness she had almost kissed him, but at the last moment chickened out. He responded by saying he would carve a hundred pumpkins with her if she would kiss him, which had earned him a laugh and a kiss.

The next year Katara hosted their pumpkin carving and movie marathon. She even figured out how to roast the pumpkin seeds. They spent a good half hour debating the merits of her sea prune salt seasoning versus his fire flake seasoning.

By the time she graduated college they had been dating for a year and a half, and by some miracle when he asked her to move in with him she said yes. They got another small miracle when Katara realized wouldn’t be working Halloween night, freeing them up to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. She was so excited she spent half a paycheck on décor for their front porch and bought far more candy than they could ever hand out. They spent most of an afternoon wandering through Spirit Halloween trying to decide on their costumes before they settled on a simple vampire for him and black cat for her. The day before they carved their pumpkins and roasted the seeds so Halloween night they were free to watch movies and snack on their pumpkin seeds in between trick-or-treaters. Zuko’s heart melted every time Katara gushed over all the costumes, oohing and aahing over even the simplest witch costume. He was glad she bought so much candy after all, with the way she liberally scooped handfuls into open bags.

He teased her every year as they watch the same movies again and again, but it’s an empty joke. He kind of likes the way she can quote _Halloweentown_ line for line, the way she always yells, “Don’t light the candle you dumb virgin!” during _Hocus Pocus,_ the way she sings along to _Ghostbusters_ just a little off key. But his favorite moment is at the end of the night when the trick-or-treaters stop knocking and they settle into the couch and she cuddles up to him. She usually whispers a thanks, something about how much she appreciates him being okay with continuing their dorky traditions. He always smiles down at her, tells her how he wouldn’t give it up for anything, and the smile she gives him makes him fall for her just a little bit more.

And thus their tradition continued. Each year becomes a little more involved, like when Katara finds a hack for preserving carved pumpkins that involves a bleach solution. Or when Zuko admits that his preferred fall drink is apple cider, so they pick up a gallon to sip while they pass out candy.

Somehow, despite Katara being a nurse, she always managed to have Halloween night off. Zuko prays every year beginning October 1st that their luck will continue. Unfortunately, six years after they moved in together, their luck ran out.

“I’m so sorry honey. I’ve asked around but anyone that could trade is taking their kids trick-or-treating,” she says a week after she got her schedule. Not only is she working Halloween, but it’s second shift so there won’t be any trick-or-treaters by the time she gets off.

“It’s ok babe. I promise, missing one year won’t be the end of the world. We’ve got plenty of time for you to insult Max for lighting the candle later,” he tries to comfort her, but he knows she is upset. His heart breaks at the way she sounds broken, and he swears to himself that he’ll find a way to make it up to her.

Katara has to work Oct 30th and 31st, so they don’t have time to carve pumpkins since she refuses to carve one earlier than the day before Halloween (they always rot before any trick-or-treaters see them, so she says). So Zuko does his best to reassure her, reminds her its ok if they miss one year, and secretly makes his plans to surprise her.

He starts by making her a big breakfast before she heads in to work. He even attempts to shape some of them like ghosts like he saw floating around on Facebook. They look more like blobs, but she still smiles and tells him his pancakes are “boOoo-tiful”. As soon as she’s out the door, he retrieves his supplies from the guest bedroom closet and works on the final details.

He shows up at the hospital fifteen minutes early to ensure he can get a good parking spot and carries everything into the cafeteria. He passes off his bribe to the director of the cafeteria (a bag of Halloween candy) and heads upstairs to grab Katara.

She seems a little surprised to see him, but sometimes he brings her lunch at work, so she accepts his ruse and follows him downstairs. When she sees the little table he has set up, she stops dead in her tracks and whirls to face him.

“Zuko? What is all this?” she asks, and maybe she’s had a rough day or maybe this meant more to her than she’d let on, but he catches the tears welling in her eyes.

“Don’t cry! I just, I know you were sad we couldn’t do our normal stuff, so I brought the highlights to you,” he said, scooping her up for a hug and a quick kiss before wrapping an arm around her waist to show off what he had planned.

“So we don’t have time to carve pumpkins, but we can still decorate them,” he gestured to the vampire and witch decorating push-in sets, “so I had to get pre-roasted seeds, but I got them from the little market Sokka recommends, so the sea prune should be authentic. And we’ve got cider for while we watch our movies,” he pointed to his laptop where he has the musical scenes from _Hocus Pocus_ ready to watch, “and some candy in case we get trick-or-treaters,” he winks at her and she laughs. “Oh! And of course we can’t forget,” he pulls out a witch hat and places it on her head before sticking the terrible plastic vampire teeth over his.

She’s still got tears welling in the corner of her eyes but her smile is so wide it makes Zuko’s face hurt, and she throws her arms around him for a hug. He holds her close for another moment before eagerly gesturing for her to sit. She immediately tore into the pumpkin decorating kit and carefully pushed the witch features into the pumpkin. When she’s happy with it, she begins eating her dinner (but mostly the pumpkin seeds). As she begins eating, he presses play on the laptop and settles into the seat next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. He keeps checking his phone hoping Katara won’t notice but of course she does. She pauses the video and turns to ask, “Are we expecting someone-”

“Trick-or-treat!” a tiny voice squeaks out. Katara whips her head around to the edge of the table, where a small astronaut has appeared. Her eyes widen in recognition and suddenly she’s hugging their nephew Amarok, and he’s groaning about wanting candy, but he accepts the hug, nonetheless. Sokka and Suki finally make their appearance behind their oldest, and Zuko can’t help but laugh at their costume.

“Nice choice,” Katara says, finally releasing Amarok. She compliments his costume and scoops a handful of candy into his bag before fully turning her attention to Sokka and Suki. Suki has painted a t shirt so her pregnant belly looks like a volleyball with a handprint on it. Sokka is wearing his terrible fake beard but it works with their Cast Away theme, and he’s clutching an old Fed Ex package.

“Thanks! It was Suki’s idea,” Sokka proudly exclaims. Suki rolls her eyes but holds open her bag.

“Trick-or-treat,” she says, and when Katara raises and eyebrow at her exclaims, “what?! I’m trick-or-treating for the baby. _They_ want candy,” she defends herself and everyone laughs.

“I’m going to get some food,” Sokka declares to no one’s surprise, and Suki and Amarok settle in across the table. They make it a minute into “I Put A Spell On You” before-

“Trick-or-treat!” choruses around the table and Katara whips her head around again.

“Oh!” she gasps, and Zuko starts grinning.

Before their table is a group of kids in various levels of costumes. Some are in full costumes, like Amarok is, while others have simple face paint. Katara looks at him with a confused look as she reaches for the candy.

“When you told me you couldn’t get today off,” he says, leaning in over her shoulder to whisper in her ear, “I reached out to Yugoda. I told her about how we usually celebrate, and she told me about the hospital’s trick-or-treating efforts,” he explained.

Yugoda had been sympathetic and maybe a little surprised that Zuko had reached out, but she helped coordinate his plans, advising what time Katara was most likely to get a break and telling him about the Halloween activities the hospital put on. Apparently the trick-or-treating was a relatively new idea, something they hosted for kids that were patients or whose parents or guardians were patients and couldn’t take them trick-or-treating. They only took the kids to a few spots, like the gift shop and chapel, but they made up for it by offering full size candy bars. For kids who couldn’t have candy, they had special bags that indicated the kids should be given other treats, like a coloring book or play dough.

Katara still gushed over every kid, making a point to compliment some part of their costumes before handing over a treat. Zuko’s heart swelled, and he had to blink back a few tears with how adorable Katara was with each kid.

Before too long all the kids are gone, and then Sokka, Suki, and Amarok leave (after another big hug and more candy from Katara) leaving just Katara and Zuko. He stands to walk her out but before he can pick up her pumpkin, she throws her arms around him.

“Thank you so much,” she muffles into his shoulder, “you have no idea how much this means to me.”

He chuckles a little and hugs her closer. “Probably as much as it means to me,” he whispers back.

He walks her back to her floor, leaving her pumpkin and the leftover candy at the nurse’s station, and heads back to the cafeteria to clean up. When he gets home, he fills a bowl with candy to leave on the porch for later. By that point Katara had texted him.

**_Katara:_ ** _Thank you again. I can’t tell you enough how thankful I am that you not only put up with but also encourage my dorky habits._

**_Zuko:_ ** _Don’t ask me to repeat this, ever, but I think I enjoy it as much as you do._

**_Katara:_ ** _Oh no, I’m never letting you live this down. Not after the way you teased me for filling our sink with pumpkin preserve last year._

He rolls his eyes but a silly grin is on his face. He knows he would do anything to keep earning those smiles she gives him at the end of Halloween night.

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments or feedback is greatly appreciated! Also come say hi on tumblr @gemgirl28


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